Sports

Ahead of the 2012 Grand Prix of Baltimore Aug. 21-Sept. 4, here’s a look at the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Calif. from Sunday where Ryan Briscoe took the win. Drivers Will Power placed second and Franchitti placed third.More

You don’t become the most decorated Olympian of all time without ubiquitous worldwide press coverage — hardware equals headlines — but we can safely say the ink chronicling hometown hero Michael Phelps in the pages of The Baltimore Sun could fill entire swimming pools. A record 22 Olympic medals, including 18 golds, will do that. Search “Michael Phelps” in The Sun’s print archives and you’ll find more than 1,500 articles mentioning him, a total which isn’t comprehensive for the newspaper and doesn’t include any website or mobile content. Ninety-nine front-page (1A) stories* have at least mentioned Phelps, though he’s obviously been the main subject of many of those. Not bad for a 27-year-old, huh?

As Phelps begins life after competitive swimming, we take a look back at The Sun’s coverage of his Olympic medal-winning races in Athens, Beijing and London, highlighting the print covers and stories.More

If the Olympics reinforced anything, it’s our addiction to the animated gif — everyone from journalists to pop culture enthusiasts created them to add a little drama and pizazz in reporting the Games this year. Elspeth Reeve from The Atlantic provided a gif guide to “how the U.S. Team crushed the Russians,” meanwhile Buzzfeed highlighted the “most absurd moments of the Olympic Opening Ceremony” and Mashable presented “the most painful moments of the Olympics” via gifs.

Here’s a gif rundown from the Neiman Journalism Lab, a Storify of Olympics gifs, and a gif need to know guide for journalists from Ann Friedman.

We claim to be no pros, but here we add our own to the Olympics animated gif mix from the hurdles to weightlifting and even a First Lady Michelle Obama reaction, using photos and the power of layers and animation in Photoshop.More

The 67th annual Howard County Fair began on Saturday, Aug. 4, at the county fairgrounds in West Friendship, and Patuxent Publishing photographer Brian Krista has been there every day. He’s captured the animals, the people and the competitions held at the fair each year. Check out more of the Howard County Times’ coverage of the fair here.

As this year’s Olympic athletes continue to show off their skills on the field, in the pool, on the court, in the ring, etc., they also continue to show off their skin art. So much in fact that last week’s Darkroom post on 50 more tattoos on the world’s best athletes simply wasn’t enough.

Emotions run rampant for competing Olympians and having a strong support system is crucial to their success. Here’s a look at the wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, coaches, teammates, friends and family who support their athletic superstars and celebrate their victories during this monumental competition.

The Olympic spirit continues to swell throughout London invoking a frenzy of fan activity at this year’s Summer Games. Wigs, posters, hats, kangaroos, face paint, and for some, butt paint, adorn these super fans as they cheer their champions on to victory.

As we continue to look at the art of motion at the 2012 Olympics in London, here’s a selection of photos highlighting the competitive world of swimming and diving from under the surface. They include Michael Phelps, Missy Franklin, and Ryan Lochte.

Army Sgt. Kirk Bauer lost most of his left leg in a firefight in Vietnam, but that hasn’t stopped him from tackling some the world’s greatest challenges with Disabled Sports USA – Warfighter Sports. He’s been with the organization for 42 years, and is now its executive director. Their goal is to help wounded veterans returning from war realize that they can still achieve great feats.

In June 2012, Bauer led four Iraq and Afghanistan veterans — two double-leg amputees, one single-leg amputee and one with muscle damage – up North America’s tallest mountain, Mt. McKinley in Alaska.

Their tagline: Five wounded warriors, four good legs, three wars, two generations, one mountain.